


tony and the three bears

by kimannhart



Series: ironhusbands bingo 2019 [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Carnival, Fluff, M/M, MIT Era, Multi, Not Beta Read, Teddy Bears, but also present
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-12 10:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18444701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimannhart/pseuds/kimannhart
Summary: “So what are you gonna name them?” Rhodey asked from his bed.Tony pondered for a moment. “The grey one is Sour Patch, the red one one is Honey Bear, and the yellow one is Platypus.”Rhodey squinted his eyes when he heard the last name, “Platypus? Really?”“Yup, and you can’t change my mind about it.”ORIn which Tony tells Bucky the origin of his nicknames for Rhodey.





	tony and the three bears

**Author's Note:**

  * For [martianwahtney](https://archiveofourown.org/users/martianwahtney/gifts).



> This is a fill for Ironhusbands bingo, for my square O3: MIT Era, but it's also a gift fic for my sweet [chels](https://archiveofourown.org/users/martianwahtney) who started this idea about Rhodey and Tony going to a carnival in the Ironhusbands discord server. 
> 
> Also, this isn't beta read, so all mistakes are mine.
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy!

_ Neon lights shined throughout the night. Creaking rides and distant screaming filled Tony’s ears. The smell of turkey legs and deep fried concoctions hit his nose. His eyes roamed around the fairgrounds and excitement filled his soul.  _

_ Growing up Howard never approved of Tony’s requests of wanting to go to a carnival. Howard had always deemed them as something that wasn’t meant for them, had said that carnivals are for the stupid, naïve, and poor. Tony frowned whenever he heard his father’s response, but never questioned him on it the first few times.  _

_ Tony remembered the last time he asked Howard to take him to the carnival. Tony kept arguing about how despite his father’s thoughts, carnivals looked fun and that it would be a perfect place to have some father-son bonding time. Tony remembered how he begged Howard to go so they could play the games there together and maybe win a big teddy bear. But Howard was quick to shut him up with a shout and a broken liquor bottle. And from that point on, Tony never asked to go ever again. But deep down, Tony still wished to go to one someday. _

_ So, the moment Rhodey asked him if he wanted to go the carnival in town with him, Tony jumped at the chance.  _

_ Tony tugged on the sleeve of Rhodey’s MIT sweater, “Look Rhodey! Look! They have a carousel!”  _

_ Rhodey chuckled at Tony’s obvious excitement. “Yup, they sure do Tones.” _

_ “Can we ride it?”  _

_ “Of course we can, but do you wanna eat, go on some rides, or play some games first?” _

_ Tony gasped at the mention of the carnival games. His mind reeling back to when he was a kid, remembering how he so desperately wanted to win one of the big prizes. “Ohhhh games! Please let’s play some games!”  _

_ Rhodey raised his hands up in acquiesce, “No argument from me. Let’s go.” He laughed to himself when he saw Tony walked with a skip in his step towards one of the milk bottle booths. Rhodey watched with interest as Tony threw ball after ball trying to knock down the three bottles. A small pang of hurt hit Rhodey’s heart when he saw the defeated look on Tony’s face when Tony made his way back to his side.  _

_ “C’mon, let’s go on some rides or do something else,” Tony huffed.   _

_ Rhodey pulled Tony close to his side and placed an arm on his shoulders. “Oh don’t be too bummed about that game. The game is pretty much rigged for people to lose anyway.” _

_ “Rigged?”  _

_ “Yeah as a way for the carnivals to make some more money.” _

_ “That’s… so unfair.” _

_ “It is.” _

_ “... Are all the games rigged?”  _

_ “No, just most. Like the duck pond for example isn’t rigged… Well actually it is rigged, but it’s rigged for everyone to win, mostly small prizes but still it’s a win, since it’s a game targeted towards children.” _

_ “Oh.” _

_ “Yeah,” Rhodey sighed, “Sorry to burst your bubble a bit Tones. I know how much coming here meant to you.” _

_ “It’s okay. I’m happy that I got to experience my first carnival with you Rhodey,” Tony smiled. He was about to add on and say how much Rhodey meant to him ever since he bumped into him during orientation and became his friend but Tony got distracted by a sign up ahead. “What the heck is a  _ **_deep fried ice cream_ ** _?”  _

* * *

_ After a good two or three hours of eating all the absurd and unhealthy food, and riding all the fun and probably not-so safe rides, Rhodey and Tony made their way back to one of balloon darts booth. Rhodey handed the worker a twenty dollar bill. _

_ “Uh, what are you doing?” Tony asked.  _

_ “I’m gonna win you one of those big bears Tones,” Rhodey pointed up to the extra large grey teddy bear with one of his darts. _

_ “But I thought you said that these gam—” _

_ Rhodey cut Tony off, “Don’t worry about that. Just trust me on this.” _

_ A puzzled look framed Tony’s face. “I… I mean I guess.”  _

_ A few minutes later, Tony’s eyes widen in surprise when Rhodey practically shoved the giant bear, which was bigger and taller than he was, into his arms. Tony couldn’t even fathom a response when Rhodey just smiled at him before motioning over to go to the balloon blast water shooting game. Tony couldn’t even protest when Rhodey handed over more cash.  _

_ When more seven others joined the race and it had started, Tony watched on in excitement when he saw that Rhodey’s balloon was slowly increasing in size. Despite Tony watching Rhodey’s balloon, he still jumped when it had popped and alarms started blaring.  _

_ “WINNER! WINNER! WE HAVE A WINNER! You can pick any prize up from that shelf.” _

_ Rhodey pointed to the large red teddy bear and nodded in thanks when the worker handed it to him. He grinned when he turned to face Tony. “Here ya go Tony!”  _

_ Tony felt a warmth in his heart, when Rhodey gave him the other bear. “Thank you.” _

_ “I wanna play one more game, but after that is there anything else you want to do? Or do you just want to head back to the dorm?”  _

_ “We can head back after.” _

_ “Okay,” Rhodey replied as he guided them back to the first game that Tony had played when they first arrived at the carnival.  _

_ Tony stopped mid-step when he realized what game Rhodey wanted to play. “Rhodey, don’t waste your money.” _

_ “It’s fine Tones, I got this.” _

_ Tony didn’t want to admit it aloud, but he was pretty positive that Rhodey did not “got this.”  _

* * *

_ “Rhodey  _ **_please_ ** _. You spent so much money on this game, it’s fine if you don’t win from this game. Let’s just go back to our dorm now.” Tony pleaded to Rhodey. Tony was seated cross-legged on the ground, in the middle of his two bears, with one elbow placed on top of his leg and chin planted in the palm of his hand. _

_ Despite knowing that the game was rigged, Rhodey refused to give up. He huffed when he saw that he was down to his last five dollar bill. He thought about heading over to an ATM to pull more money out but he knew that Tony would probably feel even more bad at how much money he had spent on him today. “Fine, last game Tones, I promise, and then we can head back to campus.”  _

_ Tony sighed and shook his head when Rhodey handed over the bill. “Yeah I know, he’s a dumb fool,” he muttered to his bears.  _

_ “Am I really a dumb fool now?” Rhodey asked with a big yellow teddy bear in hand.  _

_“H-how did you? I’m… What? That was so_ ** _fast_** _this time. How did you? What?” Tony stuttered out as his hands grasped for the third bear._

_ “Pure dumb luck,” Rhodey admitted. “Ready to go now?”  _

_ Tony nodded and grabbed onto Rhodey’s hand as he got off the ground. “No, no.” Tony refused his best friend’s help when Rhodey went to grab two of the bears, “I got this,” he stated proudly even though he struggled a bit trying to hold all three bears.  _

_ Rhodey chuckled, “Tony c’mon, let’s be reasonable here. Those bears are bigger than you.”  _

_ Tony scoffed, “Reasonable? Nope, you lost the chance to be reasonable when you drained your wallet at the milk bottle game. So you’re not allowed to tal- Ow! I’m okay.”  _

* * *

_ “So what are you gonna name them?” Rhodey asked from his bed. _

_ Tony pondered for a moment. “The grey one is Sour Patch, the red one one is Honey Bear, and the yellow one is Platypus.”  _

_ Rhodey squinted his eyes when he heard the last name, “Platypus? Really?” _

_ “Yup, and you can’t change my mind about it.”  _

* * *

“Wait, pause,” Bucky interrupted.

An offended look appeared on Tony’s face when Bucky’s voice cut through the middle of his storytelling. “What Buck-a-Boo?”

“So, you’re telling me, that the nicknames you gave Rhodey are based from the three bears that he won for you at a carnival back when you two went to MIT?” 

Tony nodded, “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.” 

“He loved those bears so much he refused to toss them out and got offended when I said I could get him softer and better ones,” Rhodey who was curled up to Tony’s side muttered out sleepily. 

Tony pressed a kiss to the temple of Rhodey’s head, “Of course I got offended. You spent so much money winning them for me, I wasn’t going to just throw them away. They’re my Rhodey bears.” 

“Rhodey bears huh?” Bucky chimed back in. “Does that mean I need to take you both out on a carnival date and win three bears too? And have them be deemed as Bucky bears?”

Rhodey snorted, “Oh, you don’t need to do that James. Tony already has his own set of Bucky bears.”

“Rhodey no!” 

“Oh does he now? Please do tell me more James.” 

Tony groaned, “Please don’t Platypus.”

Rhodey ignored Tony. The sleepiness completely wearing off as he sat up on the couch. “There’s even pictures too.” 

“Pictures? Oh this I  _ definitely  _ need to see.”

“Rhodey, please, I’m begging you, do  _ not _ show the pictures!”

“You see James, back when our precious Tony was a kid…”


End file.
